Jazzy D's Soul Notes

Another example of raptor persecution.


The bird, which hatched only this year, will have been in the air barely eight weeks (© RSPB)

The RSPB is appealing for information regarding the death of a protected buzzard in Little Hayfield, within the Peak District National Park between Manchester and Sheffield.

A local resident found the buzzard, a juvenile which had hatched this summer, freshly dead on 5 September 2020, in a paddock adjacent to woodland and a driven grouse moor. They contacted Derbyshire Police on 101 and reported it to the RSPB. The body was x-rayed by a local vet who identified a broken leg and a piece of lead shot lodged within the bird’s chest. It is possible that the injuries were sustained at different times during the bird’s short life.

All birds of prey are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. To intentionally kill or injure one is a criminal offence and could result in an unlimited fine or up to six months in jail.

Tom Grose, RSPB Investigations Officer, said: “This was a tragic end to the life of a young bird which had barely begun to spread its wings. The sight of a buzzard soaring overhead is part of the pleasure of being out in the Peak District. This is one of our most visited National Parks and should be a place people can go to enjoy nature, and a place in which nature is protected.

Buzzards are sadly highly vulnerable to illegal killing, and RSPB data shows that more buzzards were the object of persecution in 2019 than any other raptor species. While it’s not clear whether shooting was the cause of death, it’s clear that this bird had been illegally shot at some point in its very short life. We are therefore appealing to the public for information.”

Just five months away from hosting the World Congress of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in Marseille, France has authorised the killing of nearly 18,000 Turtle Doves – a globally threatened species.



On August 27, 2020, the decree relating to the hunting of the Turtle Dove in metropolitan France during the 2020-2021 season was published in the Official Journal. It sets a maximum quota of 17,460 birds. Conservation NGOs in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands wrote to the French authorities to highlight the massive decline in numbers and to cease the killing – these pleas were ignored.

In 2018 the European Commission asked member states to suspend the hunting of Turtle Doves and in July this year an infringement procedure was opened against France yet they decided to allow the killing to continue again this year.

During the 2019-2020 season hunters declared they had "only" killed 4000 doves. The last serious independent estimate related to the 2013-2014 season and concluded that around 90,000 birds were killed so conservationists in France do not believe the hunters estimates. This summer during a public consultation 20,000 contributors took part and more than 77% said they were against the continued killing.

Allain Bougrain Dubourg, President of the LPO (Birdlife Partner in France) responding to the news said: “We recently learned of the happy ending of glue trapping, obtained under the threat of a lawsuit against France by the European Commission before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The open offense against France and the fact that it is the only and last country to let such practices take place should have been enough. But no, it was surely necessary to give a new gift to the hunters! Each year, nearly 30,000 Turtle Doves were illegally felled during the breeding season in the Médoc. We fought for 20 years to end this massacre. It is unbearable to keep slaughtering a dying species.”

There is a nuisance seagullthat is tapping at the window sometimes.It looks at the cat's food when the cat is not around.





It is cunning.It waits totry and sccopin when the glass door opens to the garden.



I chase it off.
This has become a dialy game - almost.

I want to talk about boobies - not the cleavage kind but the rare bird kind - see link below.


http://www.rarebirdalert.co.uk/v2/Content/First_for_Britain_Red_footed_Booby_in_Sussex.aspx?s_id=1064423338

First for Britain: Red-footed Booby in Sussex